A process for optically joining an optical fiber array to an opponent member

Abstract: A process for optically joining a plurality of optical fibers to an opponent member (50), comprising the steps of forming an optical fiber array by fixing the optical fibers (6) between a V-grooved base plate (1) and a fixing base plate (2) with the optical fibers fitted in respective V-grooves formed on a surface of the V-grooved base plate, and optically joining the optical fibers of the optical fiber array to the opponent member by using, as a joining reference surface, either one of a first surface (2a) of the fixing base plate at which the optical fibers are fixed and a second surface of the fixing base plate (2b) opposite to said surface.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to a process for optically joining an optical fiber array to an opponent member. (2) Related Art Statement In order to optically join an optical fiber to an opponent member such as an optical waveguide, it is necessary to coincide a center of a core of the optical fiber with an optical center of the opponent member. For this purpose, an optical fiber array is first prepared by fixing the optical fiber between a V-grooved base plate and a fixing base plate, and this optical fiber array is aligned with the opponent member. In order to accurately effect this alignment, the following processes have been heretofore developed and investigated. According to a first process, an optical fiber array and an opponent member are placed on respectively separate stages, a light beam is led into the optical fiber array as an input terminal, and the optical fiber array is joined to the opponent member after alignment through which one or two stages are finely moved to make a power of the light beam emitted from the opponent member maximum. This process is the most general and practical process currently performed. However, the process requires a complicated system, and complexity and cost required for the completion of the joining pose great problems. According to a second process, a guide groove is formed in an optical fiber array and a corresponding guide groove is formed in an opponent member. Then, alignment is effected between them by inserting a guide pin into both the guide grooves. However, this process has the problem in that it takes a time to form the guide grooves. In particularly, since the guide groove must be formed on the opponent member without grinding the upper surface thereof when the opponent member is an optical waveguide substrate, it is very difficult to attain given accuracy. JP-A-2-125209 discloses a process of this type, in which are clamped between a pair of plates which both have V-grooves for them. In addition both plates have larger V-grooves for guide pins. One plate overlies and contracts the opponent member. According to a third process, an optical fiber array is aligned with an opponent member by using given outer surfaces of the optical fiber array and the opponent member as reference surfaces. This process is very attractive in that the alignment is automatically effected only by inserting both the array and the opponent member into a given package. However, there has been no manufacturer who had succeeded in the actually industrial development of the third process, and this process has been now under development. When the optical fiber is to be optically connected to the opponent member according to the third process, it is considered to be a common practice that an optical fiber array is formed by accurately locating optical fibers by using a V-grooved base plate 1 and a fixing base plate 2 as shown in Fig. 1, and the optical fiber array is joined to the opponent member by using a bottom surface of the V-grooved base plate as a reference surface, while an optical center of the opponent member 50 is coincided with centers of cores of the optical fibers. A plurality of V-grooves 3 for fixing bared optical fibers and a recess 4 for receiving a tape-shaped covering of the optical fibers are formed in the V-grooved base plate 1. In the fixing base plate 2 are formed a flat surface portion for fixing the bared portions of the optical fibers in the respective V-grooves 3 and a recess 5 for receiving the covering. The V-grooves are formed in such a dimension that when the optical fibers are fitted to the respective V-grooves and the fixing base plate is placed on the optical fibers, each of the optical fibers is brought into close contact with opposite inclined surfaces of the V-groove and the flat surface of the fixing base plate, so that the optical fibers are accurately located and the fixing base plate is accordingly accurately held on the optical fibers. However, since the V-grooved base plate 1 needs to be bonded to a surface of a glass plate or the like with an adhesive in order to work the V-grooves 3 for fixing the optical fibers in the base plate 1, occurrence of a dimensional error of around ±30 µm resulting from the adhesive layer cannot be avoided. Therefore, the distance A from a reference bottom face of the glass plate bonded to the base plate 1 to the opposite surface thereof, that is, to the vertical position of the V-groove has a variation in a range of about ±30 µm. As a result, it is necessary to effect fine adjustment in alignment between the optical fiber array and the opponent member 50 not only in a horizontal direction but also in a vertical direction, so that much time is required to effect the aligning and joining works. It is mentioned here that EP-A-573288 (published 8 December 1993) illustrates a process similar to that of Figs. 5 and 6 below. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the above mentioned problems. The invention succeeds in providing a process for optically joining an optical fiber array to an opponent member at high efficiency through avoidance of a dimensional error in a distance from a reference surface to an upper surface of a V-grooved base plate (distance "A" in Fig. 1). The present invention is set out in claim 1. In the present invention, a bottom surface of the V-grooved base plate is not used as the reference surface, which is different from the prior art, and instead the optical fiber-fixing surface of the base plate fixing the optical fibers in the respective V-grooves of the V-grooved base plate is used as the reference surface. Since no V-grooves need be formed on the fixing base plate, the distance between the optical fiber-fixing surface of the base plate and the center of the core of each of the optical fibers is accurately set. Consequently, it is unnecessary to make fine adjustment in a vertical direction when the optical fibers are optically joined to the opposed member. Therefore, in the joining process of the present invention, the alignment has only to be made in the horizontal direction, so that the joining work can be effectively done. Further, since this process belongs to the third known process type mentioned before, in which the alignment is effected by using a surface of the optical fiber-fixing base plate as a reference surface, the joining process of the present invention has the advantage in that a complicated system as required in the first process or a provision of a guide groove as required in the second process can be omitted. These and other obtained features and advantages of the invention will be appreciated upon reading the following description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the attached drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view for illustrating the conventional joining process; Fig. 2(A) is a perspective view illustrating a comparative joining process described to aid explanation of the present invention; Fig. 2(B) is a front view illustrating the state in which bared portions of optical fibers are fitted to V-grooves of a V-grooved base plate in the process of Fig. 2(A); Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a V-grooved base plate and a fixing plate used in a second comparative joining process; Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the joining process using the components of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a V-grooved base plate and a fixing plate used in a third comparative joining process; Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the joining process using the components of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating an optical fiber array used in a first embodiment of the joining process according to the present invention; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an optical fiber array used in a second embodiment of the joining process according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. Throughout the specification and the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals are given to the same or similar constituent parts. A joining process for comparison with the present invention is shown in Fig. 2(A), in which reference numerals 1 and 2 denote a V-grooved base plate and a fixing base plate as illustrated in Fig. 1, respectively. As mentioned before, bared optical fibers 6 are accurately located between V-grooves 3 formed on the V-grooved base plate 1 and the fixing base plate 2, and a band-shaped covering 7 for the optical fibers is placed in covering-receiving recesses 4 and 5 formed in the V-grooved base plate 1 and the fixing base plate 2, respectively. The V-grooves can be accurately formed in the V-grooved base plate 1, and the bared optical fiber can be also formed at substantially the same diameter over an entire length thereof. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 2(B), when the bared optical fibers 6 are fitted to the respective V-grooves of the V-grooved base plate while upper portions of the bared optical fibers 6 are exposed outside from the V-grooves, a substantially straight line (substantially flat plane) is formed by connecting uppermost points (lines) of outer peripheral surfaces of the bared optical fibers. Thus, when the fixing base plate 2 is placed on the bared optical fibers, each of the bared optical fiber is closely supported and fixed by the fixing base plate 2 and opposite inclined surfaces of the V-groove substantially at three points (three lines). In Fig. 2(A), optical means such as optical waveguides (not clearly shown) are provided on or in the opponent member at locations corresponding to cores of bared optical fibers 6 fitted to the V-grooves, respectively. As shown in Fig. 2(A), an optical fiber array, which is formed by fitting the bared optical fibers to the V-grooves and fixing the optical fibers between the V-grooved base plate and the fixing base plate, is vertically reversed from the orientation shown in Fig. 1, and a surface 2b of the fixing base plate 2 opposite to an optical fiber-fixing surface 2a thereof as a reference surface. Since this fixing base plate 2 requires no complicating working, different from the V-grooved base plate 1, the thickness B of the fixing base plate 2 can be made constant. For example, a flatness degree in a range of ±1 µm may be attained by polishing the opposite surfaces of the fixing base plate. Therefore, when the core centers of the bared optical fibers fitted to the V-grooves are made in coincide with the height of the optical center of the opponent member 50, the optical fibers can be optically joined to the opponent member, while almost no fine adjustment is made in the vertical direction. Thereby, workability in the joining operation can be largely enhanced. In this process and in the present invention (the processes in Figs. 2A through Fig. 8) the V-grooved base plate and the fixing base plate are ordinarily made of a hard but brittle material such as a glass ceramic or silicon. Since communication optical fibers are ordinarily made of quartz and these base plates are to fix optical fibers, a glass and a Li 2 O·Aℓ 2 O 3 ·SiO 2 based glass ceramic are preferred, which have coefficients of thermal expansion near that of quartz. The optical fiber array is finally fixed to the opponent member, for example, by using an adhesive. That is, the joining between the optical fibers and the opponent member is finally completed by bonding an end face of the optical fiber array to an opposed end face of the opponent member with an adhesive. Since this bonding method belongs to the state of the art, detailed explanation is omitted. In the above case, since a UV-curable adhesive may be used, a glass or a glass ceramic having a high UV-permeability is preferably used from this standpoint of view. As the opponent member to be joined to the optical fiber array, a variety of elements such as an optical waveguide, a semiconductor light-emission element, a light-receiving element, a polarizer, a lens, etc. may be employed. Considering this, working precisions of the base plates are as follows: i) Precision of thickness of the given thickness optical fiber-fixing base plate: given thickness ± 0.01 mm ii) Parallel degree of opposite surface: ≦ 5 µm iii) Flatness degree: ≦ 3 µm iv) Surface roughness: Ra ≦ 1 µm As the optical fibers to be used in the present invention, a quartz based communication optical fiber may be recited. Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a second joining process shown for comparison with the present invention. As illustrated in Fig. 3, in this process, a V-grooved base plate 1 is constituted by a base plate portion 1a in which V-grooves 3 are formed and a base plate portion 1b connected to the base plate portion 1a through a step. Further, a fixing plate is divided into an optical fiber-fixing base plate portion 8 and a covering-fixing base plate portion 9. A surface of the fixing base plate portion 9 is provided with V-grooves 3' functioning in the same way as the recess 5 in Fig. 2(A), and the V-grooves 3' and the portion 1b of the V-grooved base plate perform the same function as the covering-receiving recesses 4 and 5 in Fig. 2(A) do. This second process is particularly suited for a case where the optical fibers are independently and separately covered with an insulating material. When the optical fibers are to be optically joined to the opponent member 50, the optical fiber array is vertically reversed, and the surface 8b of the fixing base plate portion 8 opposed to the bared optical fiber-fixing surface 8a is used as a reference surface. In this second process, since it is completely unnecessary to form a groove or recess in the fixing base plate portion 8 for fixing the bared optical fibers, there is the advantage in that the distance between the reference surface 8a and the centers of the bared optical fibers can be more accurately set as desired. However, on the other hand, since the area of the reference surface 8a of the fixing base plate portion 8 is smaller, it is feared that workability may be slightly deteriorated. The following third comparative joining process is intended to remove this problem. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the third comparative process in which a V-grooved base plate 1 is divided into a V-grooved portion 1c and a covering-fixing portion 1d. A fixing base plate 2 is of an unitary type as in Fig. 1. In this third process, when the optical fibers are to be joined to an opponent member 50, as illustrated in Fig. 6, an entire optical fiber array using the V-grooved base plate 1 and the fixing base plate 2 is vertically reversed, and a surface 2b of the unitary fixing base plate 2 opposite to a surface 2a thereof to which the optical fibers are fixed is used as a reference surface. In this third process, since the unitary fixing base plate 2 gives a wider reference surface, workability is improved as compared with the second process. In Fig. 5, reference numerals 4' and 5' are recesses which correspond to the covering-receiving recesses 4 and 5, respectively, and formed in the covering fixing portion 1d and the fixing base plate 2, respectively. Since the fixing base plate 2 needs no special fine working, it goes without saying that the distance between the reference surface and the centers of the optical fibers can be accurately set. An embodiment of the joining process of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 7, in which a V-grooved base plate 1 is divided into a V-grooved portion 1c and a covering-receiving portion 1d as in the case of the third comparative process illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, and the width of a portion of a fixing base plate corresponding to the V-grooved portion is made greater than that of the V-grooved portion 1c. Further, a second embodiment of the joining process of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 8, in which a fixing base plate is made wider than a V-grooved base plate over its entire length corresponding to a V-grooved portion 1c and a covering-receiving portion 1d of the V-grooved base plate 1. In the embodiments in Figs. 7 and 8, a reference jigs 10 are fixed to an optical fiber-fixing surface 2a as a joining reference surface of the fixing plate 2, an opponent member (not shown) is placed on the reference jigs 10, and then the optical fibers are optically joined to the opponent member. In the embodiments of Figs. 7 and 8, since the optical fiber-fixing surface 2a of the fixing base plate 2 is directly used as the reference surface, these embodiments have the advantage in that it is unnecessary to make the optical fiber-fixing surface 2a and its opposed surface of the fixing base plate 2 parallel. As mentioned above, since the optical fiber array is optically joined to the opponent member by using, as the joining reference surface, the optical fiber-fixing surface of the fixing base plate for fixing the optical fibers in the V-grooves of the V-grooved base plate, the distance from the reference surface to the centers of the optical fibers can be accurately set, and vertically fine adjustment in the alignment is unnecessary for the optical joining between the optical fibers and the opponent member. Thus, the joining process of the present invention has the advantage in that the joining work can be effectively performed.

Claims: A process for optically joining a plurality of optical fibers to an opponent member, comprising the steps of forming an optical fiber array by fixing the optical fibers between a V-grooved base plate (1) and a flat first surface (2a) of an optical fiber-fixing base plate (2) in the state that the optical fibers are fitted to respective V-grooves (3) formed on a surface of the V-grooved base plate and opposed to said first surface (2a) of the optical fiber fixing base plate with contact between the fibers and said first surface, said surface of the V-grooved base plate (1) and said flat first surface being spaced apart and optically joining the optical fibers of the optical fiber array to the opponent member by using, as a reference surface for the relative positioning of the optical fibers and the opponent member, said flat first surface (2a) of the optical fiber-fixing base plate. The joining process set forth in Claim 1, wherein the optical fibers are optically joined to optical waveguides provided in the opponent member, respectively. The joining process set forth in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the first surface (2a) of the optical fiber-fixing base plate (2) of the optical fiber array is placed on a reference jig (10), and the optical joining is effected between the optical fibers and the opponent member while the opponent member is placed on the reference jig, and while an optical center of the opponent member is aligned with centres of cores of the optical fibers. The joining process set forth in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein bared portions of the optical fibers are fitted to the V-grooves (3) of the V-grooved base plate (1), and a covering (7) for the optical fibers is received in a space formed between the V-grooved base plate and the fixing base plate (2). The joining process set forth in any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the V-grooved base plate (1) includes a V-grooved base plate portion (1c) on which the V-grooves are formed and a receiving base plate portion (1d) at which a covering of optical fibers is received, and a receiving section is constituted by said receiving base plate portion and a portion of the fixing base plate (2) opposed to the receiving base plate portion. The joining process set forth in Claim 5, wherein the V-grooved base plate portion (1c) is formed separately from the receiving base plate portion (1d). The joining process set forth in Claim 5 or 6, wherein the optical fiber-fixing base plate is divided into two portions corresponding to V-grooved base plate portion and the receiving base plate portion, respectively. The joining process set forth in Claim 3, wherein the width of at least a portion of the fixing base plate (2) opposed to the V-grooved base plate (1) is greater than that of the V-grooved base plate, and in said optical fiber array said first surface of said fixing base plate projects laterally on opposite sides of said V-grooved base plate (1), and the reference jig (10) has a pair of members which contact said first surface (2a) of the optical fiber fixing base plate (2) at the laterally projecting portions on opposite sides of said V-grooved base plate (1).

Inventors: FUKUYAMA MASASHI, OTA TAKASHI, FUKUYAMA, MASASHI, OTA, TAKASHI
Applicants: NGK INSULATORS LTD, NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: G02B6
IPC codes: G02B6